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The queen conch, Aliger gigas is a large marine gastropod mollusc that inhabits shallow seagrass meadows and sandplain habitats throughout the Caribbean. Owing to overfishing and degradation of the environment, it has become an endangered species in most of its habitat. Research on Cuban populations of A. gigas is scarce and mostly focused on conch exploitation. The present study assesses, for the first time, the genetic diversity and population structure of A. gigas from six locations on the Cuban platform, using five microsatellite loci. At most of the sampled locations, the observed heterozygosity was lower than expected and the F IS value was significantly positive, both of which suggest inbreeding. Also, we found evidence of bottlenecks for two of the locations with a deficit of heterozygotes. Although statistically significant, only 1.66% of the total variance was explained by genetic differentiation among populations, and discriminant analysis of principal components showed different degrees of overlapping between all locations. Accordingly, the results showed that there is an extensive and symmetrical exchange of genetic information. Sparse non-negative matrix factorization analysis determined the existence of three ancestral populations admixed across the sampled locations. Thus, our results suggest that A. gigas from the Cuban island platform could be a unique population, which is relevant for management and conservation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flamingos are highly mobile waterbirds that can be found in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. The large distribution range of flamingos, the inaccessibility of most of their breeding sites and the lack of species-specific molecular markers, such as microsatellites, have hampered population genetics studies of these majestic birds. Here, we developed a library of microsatellite loci primers using high-throughput sequencing technology that could be used for further genetic studies on Phoenicopteriformes. Microsatellite and mitochondrial markers were employed for the genetic characterization of individuals of all flamingo species and their hybrids, and to conduct a population genetics study of the Caribbean flamingo. The phylogeny of Phoenicopteriformes was confirmed with six species grouped in two major clades that diverged approximately 13 Mya. This suggests the existence of two genera of flamingos, not three, as is currently accepted. The analysis of the genetic structure of the Caribbean flamingo shows that all Cuban demes constitute a single population isolated from the Bonairean colony. This supports suggestions of the existence of limited connectivity between northern and southern Caribbean colonies. The small Galápagos colony was confirmed as an isolated population with low genetic diversity; thus, it should be considered as threatened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation strategies can be most effective when factors influencing the persistence of populations are wellunderstood, including aspects of reproductive biology such as mating system. Crocodylians have been traditionally associated with a polygynous mating system, with genetic studies revealingmultiple paternity of clutches in several species. The endemic Cuban crocodile, Crocodylus rhombifer, is currently listed as Critically Endangered, and is one of the least understood crocodylian species in terms of its mating behavior. Here, we tested a hypothesis of multiple paternity in the Cuban crocodile by collecting genotypic data at nine microsatellite loci for 102 hatchlings from five nests sampled at the Zapata Swamp captive breeding facility and analyzing them in relation to data previously collected for 137 putative parents. All five nests showed evidence of multiple paternity based on the numbers of alleles per locus, with sibship analyses reconstructing all nests as having four to six full-sib family groups. Accordingly, mean pairwise relatedness values per nest ranged from 0.21 to 0.39, largely intermediate between theoretical expected values for half-siblings (0.25) and full-siblings (0.50). It is not possible to differentiate whether the multiple paternity of a nest was due to multiple matings during the same breeding season, or a result of sperm storage. Our results reveal that the C. rhombifer mating system is likely best characterized as promiscuous and suggest that the standard practice of enforcing a 1:2 sex ratio at the captive breeding facility should be altered in order to better maintain a demographically and genetically healthy ex situ population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Population genetic studies carried out on penaeid shrimps have disclosed different patterns of population subdivision, revealing new aspects of shrimp biology as well as the effects of historical contingency molding those patterns. However, the stability of observed allele frequencies over time still remains untested. The objective of this article is to show the analysis of the temporal variation of allozymes in a shrimp species inhabiting Cuba which proves that the genetic structure of this species could significantly change in time. The study involves four populations of Farfantepenaeus notialis sampled in a period of 8 years. The significant statistics obtained from partitions observed in 1995 were not detected in 2003 (as suggested by amova and FST), whereas temporal genetic differentiation and heterozygosity became highly significant. The results strongly suggest that the effect of migrations could be the cause for the loss of F. notialis genetic structure in 2003. It is therefore imperative to call attention on the vulnerability of these populations when facing unstable environmental and habitat conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper, five white shrimp Litopenaeus schmitti populations of South Cuban Coast, were genetically characterized using 21 electrophoretic loci derived from 9 protein systems. The most variable population was the one from Tunas de Zaza (He= 0.132) and while the less variables were the two from Guacanayabo Gulf (He= 0.078 and 0.087). Calculated mean genetic distance was 0.019, and the smaller genetic distance value was found between Batabanó and Guacanayabo Gulfs, which is discordant with their geographic location, marine currents and the cycle of life of the species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most important vegetable worldwide. Cultivars have been bred using wild species genetic resources. The wild tomato species S. pimpinellifolium and S. lycopersicum var. cerasiforme are widely distributed in Ecuador. These species have been used in tomato breeding programs. We characterized them with microsatellite markers, using 23 microsatellite loci in 61 individuals of S. lycopersicum var. cerasiforme from three locations, and 25 microsatellite loci in 37 plants of S. pimpinellifolium from six locations. Morona Santiago (S. lycopersicum var. cerasiforme) and Manabí (S. pimpinellifolium) were the most variable populations. Populations of S. lycopersicum var. cerasiforme grouped into two clusters: one with individuals from Zamora Chinchipe, and the other with Morona Santiago's and Islas Galápagos' individuals. The first cluster of the S. pimpinellifolium population individuals of the El Oro province and Islas Galápagos, while a second cluster included individuals from Manabí and the third cluster included individuals from northern Peru and Loja province. Imbabura had genotypes from the three clusters. The fact that Islas Galápagos was clustered with any continental population supports the hypothesis that the plants were introduced in this island from the continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The venom of the Cuban scorpion Rhopalurus junceus is poorly study from the point of view of their components at molecular level and the functions associated. The purpose of this article was to conduct a proteomic analysis of venom components from scorpions collected in different geographical areas of the country., Results: Venom from the blue scorpion, as it is called, was collected separately from specimens of five distinct Cuban towns (Moa, La Poa, Limonar, El Chote and Farallones) of the Nipe-Sagua-Baracoa mountain massif and fractionated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); the molecular masses of each fraction were ascertained by mass spectrometry analysis. At least 153 different molecular mass components were identified among the five samples analyzed. Molecular masses varied from 466 to 19755 Da. Scorpion HPLC profiles differed among these different geographical locations and the predominant molecular masses of their components. The most evident differences are in the relative concentration of the venom components. The most abundant components presented molecular weights around 4 kDa, known to be K+-channel specific peptides, and 7 kDa, known to be Na+-channel specific peptides, but with small molecular weight differences. Approximately 30 peptides found in venom samples from the different geographical areas are identical, supporting the idea that they all probably belong to the same species, with some interpopulational variations. Differences were also found in the presence of phospholipase, found in venoms from the Poa area (molecular weights on the order of 14 to 19 kDa). The only ubiquitous enzyme identified in the venoms from all five localities studied (hyaluronidase) presented the same 45 kD molecular mass, identified by gel electrophoresis analysis., Conclusions: The venom of these scorpions from different geographical areas seem to be similar, and are rich in peptides that have of the same molecular masses of the peptides purified from other scorpions that affect ion-channel functions.